Apple profit falls for first time in nearly a decade

Apple reported Tuesday that its quarterly profit had dipped for the first time in nearly a decade despite a rise in revenue from the same period a year earlier.

The company posted a profit of $9.5 billion on revenue of $43.6 billion in the first three months of this year, compared to a profit of $11.6 billion on $39.2 billion in the same quarter in 2012.

It said its gross margin, or the amount of money it makes in profit from its devices, shrank to 37.5 percent from 47.5 percent.

The number of iPhones sold in the quarter rose to 37.4 million from 35.1 million during the same quarter last year.

The number of iPads sold surged to 19.5 million from 11.8 million a year earlier, the earnings figures showed.

Apple announced that its board of directors has endorsed a plan to more than double to $100 billion the amount of its stock it will buy back in the coming three years.

The board also approved a move to raise a coming stock dividend by 15 percent to $3.05 per common share as the company worked to restore confidence in its stock.

"We are very fortunate to be in a position to more than double the size of the capital return program we announced last year," said Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive.

"We believe so strongly that repurchasing our shares represents an attractive use of our capital that we have dedicated the vast majority of the increase in our capital return program to share repurchases."

Apple shares climbed five percent to $426.45 in after-hours trade following release of the figures.